More or Less a Mess (Hello Math Reader - Level 2)

A humorous rhyming story follows the adventure of a girl who must clean up her room, from the pants on the dresser to the shirts on the lamp to the wet socks in the fish bowl. Original.

Gr. 1^-2. A mother tells her daughter to clean her cluttered room, but the child doesn't know quite how to do it. First she piles up all her stuff together, then she sorts it by color, then by function, then by where it belongs. Hearing her mother climb the stairs, she desperately shoves all the piles under the covers of her suspiciously lumpy bed. Narrated by the girl, the story unfolds in rhyming verses that bounce along in a pleasant way, providing gentle humor that readers will enjoy. With clean lines and clear colors, the illustrations add to the fun. Appended to the story is a section of activities and Marilyn Burns' advice to parents and teachers on using them with children. Suggestions include retelling the story and playing several games based on sorting and patterns. It's a lot to pack into a short book, but children will enjoy the story, and the cover illustration of the girl in her messy room has definite child appeal. Carolyn Phelan